Today I thought I’d practice some of what I was preaching in my last post. It was definitely a good move. Being able to take my time with the long cycle and concentrate made a big difference. I was able to relax a lot more during the first dip and leg drive and the KB was floating up nicely. Previously I had been tensing up as the set went on and naturally trying to press the bell up instead of only tensing to catch the kettlebell overhead. A few reps with a heavier bell was another way to check everything was all good. Still nowhere near perfect but moving in the right direction.

Today marks the end of another six week cycle so I’ll look to change things up a bit next week. The changes to the rings & swings and strength workouts will be variations on the current themes, nothing will change drastically.

Tonight’s workout made me realise I need to change the way I’m approaching jerks and long cycle. I’ve been saying that my technique is getting better, which it is, but more so at the start of a long set. About halfway through my technique gets pretty shoddy. I’m trying to learn and practice a technique, but for half the time I’m practicing it poorly so (from a practice point of view) half of the time is wasted and counter productive. I think the solution is to ditch the long sets in favour of a few sets of 5-10 reps, always staying fresh, always focusing on the best technique I am capable of.

A bit of the best practice I can do has got to be better than a lot of bad practice.

The first five reps of headstand push ups felt really strong so I increased my range of motion for the other sets. I’m making steady measurable progress with them every week.

The deadlift is a relatively new movement for me. Not in life, as I pick things up off of the floor every day, but new in training. 44kg isn’t very much weight but is all i have and it’s very worthwhile doing it anyway. I want to get the hang of the movement before adding more resistance.

Huge milestone with the swings tonight, 200 in 10 minutes is a lot of work. I really struggled towards the end because of my grip, my hands were sweaty and the bell started slipping. Everything else felt pretty good, it’ll probably be a different story in the morning though.

Although most of my posts are fitness related I do have other interests. I have an intense dislike of nonsense peddlers so it was with great delight I read this Guardian article on the way home from work this evening.

It is refreshing to see homeopathy officially recognised for what it is – not a proper medical cure. Hats off to the Science and Technology Committee.

I'm sure people do see improvements from using homeopathic remedies. However, it is likely they would also benefit from any placebo providing they were assured it would have a genuine effect. If a homeopath passionately believes in the remedies I understand how they could be convincing and increase the chance of the placebo working. So does homeopathy have merit as a placebo? Not really, the effectiveness of a placebo is highly reliant on the recipient believing it works, if homeopathic remedies are discredited and that belief is gone you are just left with a pill that's bad for your teeth.

Quick kettlebell session tonight. It feels like my long cycle technique is coming on well. The fatigue is now mostly in my legs instead of the shoulders so I must be driving the bell up with my legs more effectively rather than pressing it out.

Fun with my new club and then a solid grip session tonight. The weights are all still pretty light but I’m just getting started. I’ve made a pinch block by tying a dumbbell to an old book – love the diy kit!